1st T20I: England win toss and invite India to bat, Rohit rested

With this T20I, India's preparations for the COVID-19-delayed World T20 scheduled in India later this year begins. The vice-captain will miss the first two matches of the T20I series.

Ahmedabad: In the first twenty 20 international of five-match series, England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to field against India here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.

With this T20I, India's preparations for the COVID-19-delayed World T20 scheduled in India later this year begins. The vice-captain will miss the first two matches of the T20I series.

Eoin Morgan: We're going to have a bowl. Looks a good wicket with a covering of grass. A little bit of dew later on. Going to be an evenly-poised contest. The opportunity to play in India against a very strong side with the World Cup later this year, we're really excited. The key is to evolve in our game. Five T20Is at this ground, it's going to turn at some stage and we have to be smarter. That's one aspect of our game that we're trying to evolve.

Virat Kohli: Probably would have bowled first as well. Dew is going to be a massive factor in the second half. Got to get into the game with the ball and restrict them to a chaseable score. We were planning to do things like batting first in these conditions where bowling in the dew becomes a factor. It's a good way to prepare for the World Cup. The next few months will be important from a team environment. Rohit is resting for the first couple of games.

Pitch report: "It's a black-soil pitch unlike the Tests which had red-soil surfaces. It's quite hard and also a bit abrasive, might have something in it for the wrist spinners. The outfield is in top condition and the dew later on should make it even more faster. There could be a lot of runs on offer."

Teams:

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood